Bottle carrier



June-6,.1950 A. F. LISTMAN 2,510,591

BOTTLE CARRIER Filed June 14, 1949 INVEN TOR. ALBERT E LISTMAIV I4 2 I4 28 l4 mom Patented June 6, 1950 UNITED TAT ES PAT EN T F Fl CE BOTTLE CARRIER Albert F. Listman, Rochester, N. Application June 14, 1M9, Serial N 0. 99,010

3Claims.

The presentinvention relates to a bottle car- .rier amd 'particularlyto a knock-down type of bottle "carrier.

The "bottle carriers in ordinary use'are made of cardboard. .They are intended to be used only once and discarded. Because of the nature of the material from which they are made they will not stand rough handling. Moreover, while they may bev shipped folded and fiat, they have to bebent up into shape for .use. ,'It is normally the job of the delivery man to ltake the folded carriers, bend them upinto operative shape, and then place the bottles in them. .Thisall takes considerable time, land, while the material, .from which theseicarriers-are made, is cheap, there is considerable cost entailed in getting them ready for-use and in placing .bottles in them; .and this cost usually more than-offsets the cheapness of the carrier.

Qne object ofwthe presentd-nvention-is to pro- ,vide..-a .iknock-down type-of :bottle =carrier which may be made of E-plastic :or similar material and .which can be-usedwrepeatedlm-in-fact, indefinite- Another obj ect-of the invention'is to providea bottle carrier that 'can be =very fquickly'assembled for use "and Lsave much assembly time as compared with conventional "typeso "bottle carriers.

"A further object of the invention is to pro- :vide a bottle carrier which maybe supplied "to the ultimate consumer for repeated use, and which will thereioreeliminate the present-day requirements ffOI' the deliveryman to assemble the -carrierand place the "bottles therein. With mynew carrier the customerwill do these things himself or'herself.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a bottleycarrier which will be attractive infappearance, econoinical to use, and durable. Other objects of the. invention willbe apparent hereinafter from the specification and from. the recitalof'the appended claims.

In thedrawings: r

Fig. 1 is aperspective ,view of .an assembled bottlecarrier made according'to one embodiment of this'invention;

Fig. 2 is a;side elevationai view of the handle of the carrier; 7 V i Fig. 3 is a plan view 'ofthebase plate .of the carrier;

Fig. 4 is-aplan viewo'f-the'retainer part of the carrier; r s Fig.- 5 isya vertical longitudinal sectional view through-the assembled carrier; and

.Fig. :6 is "a fragmentary sectional view =.on the line 6--.6:ofFig..5. V

The carrier illustrated in the drawings comprises a base portion ID, a retainer portion H,

'anda carrying handle 12. Each of these parts'is preferably made of plastic material.

The base is in the form of a generally rectangular-shaped flat piece of plastic material which is formed with depending portions f-that serve as feet or rests for supporting the carrier when it is placed upon any horizontal surface.

"The base is also formed along its longitudinal sides with upwardly projecting walls or ridges l5 and 'along its endswith upwardly projecting walls or ridges 16. The walls or ridges I5 and it serve to strengthen the base and also as limit stops against movement of the bottles in the carrier. Y

The handle l2 of the carrier is of generally inverted U-shape. 'At its upper end it is provided with a finger receiving slot 20 to facilitate carrying the device. The legs 21 Of the handle terminate at their lower ends in hook portions 22. They are also formed intermediatetheir ends with shoulders 23. V

The base It) is provided with two sets'oi' rectangular slots. Each set comprises an elongated rectangular slot 25 and a short rectangular :slot '-26 -arranged in tandem with the. slot 25 and separated from the slot 25 by a narrow strip 2! of plastic integral with the base. Each slot '25 is long enough to have a leg :2! of handle 12 passed'therethrough including the hooked portion 22 of the leg. Each slot;26 is long enough to have a hooked portion 22 of the .leg passed therethrough.

Thelegs 2! of the handle I 2 being made of plastic material are sufiiciently flexible that by squeezing them together by hand, they may be bowed or sprunginwardly toward one another sufiiciently .to passthe lower endsof the legs, including the hooked portions 22, through the elonlgated slots 25 .of .base 10. After passage downwardly oi the legs and hook portions22 through the slots 2 5... the legs can be bowed or sprung outwardly slightly to permit passage of the hook portions22 of the.legs.upwardlythrough-the slots .26- of the base. Then the-handle. is released perzmitting'the legs 21 to snap=back to .normal iposition and causing the hook portions 22 to engage over the bridging parts 2!! 0: the .base thus :securely locking the handle l2 to the base. iI- he base is-preferably provided with dependingridges .28 extendingalongside of each pair of slots '25 and 26 at both sides thereof. These strengthen the base and serve to prevent canting of the handle afterithas been-secured inthe base. 1

The retainer ll-is a fiat,pieceofplastic-haw ing an aelongated'central slot 30 formed therein. This slot is adapted to receive "the-handle 12:50 that the'iretainer Ii may'berpressed down over the handle to seat against the 'shou1ders'23, .tormed on the handle. slot 30 ar such as to provide a snug tight fit of The nimensions of the the retainer II on the handle. The retainer is provided with a plurality, six in the embodiment shown, of holes 3| through which the upper ends of the bottles that are carried by the device may project. The bases of the bottles are adapted to rest upon the base portion II] or the carrier.

The base portion In of the carrier may be cut out as denoted at 35 to lighten the weight of the carrier.

To disassemble the carrier, the retainer II is first slipped up over the top of the handle I2. The legs 2| of the handle are then pressed slightly outwardly and downwardly to disengage the hook portions 22 of the legs from the slots 26. Then the legs 2| are sprung inwardly toward one another so that the bottoms of the legs including the hook portions 22 may be drawn upwardly through the slots 25.

The retainer H and the handle l2 are flat strips of plastic and the base H1 is also substantially flat. When the carrier is disassembled, as described, it can be shipped or carried flat by placing the three parts one above the other.

For use, the carrier can quickly be assembled by hooking the leg portions in the base, as already described, and shoving the retainer down on the handle. The bottles may be placed on the base It] before the retainer H is shoved down on the handle, in which case the retainer will be shoved over the necks of the bottles, or the carrier may ,be assembled and then the bottles placed in it by passing them down through the holes 3| in the retainer.

For strength the handle may be provided, as shown, with a depending teat 24.

Being made of plastic, the carrier is durable and may be used repeatedly. Due to the inherent characteristics of the plastic material, the carrier will be attractive in appearance over its whole life. The plastic material may be made in different colors, and each soft drink manufacturer may employ a difierent color or different combination of colors to designate his product. Thus, the handle may be made of one color and the base and retainer of a different color, or handle, base and retainer may be made of three difierent colors, if desired.

While the invention has been described in connection with a particular embodiment thereof and a particular use therefor, it will be understood that it is capable of various modifications, and uses, and this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains and as may be applied to the essen- 'tial features hereinbefore set forth and as fall within the scope of the invention or the limits of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

' 1. A carrier comprising a, base portion consisting of one piece of material, a retainer portion consisting of one flat piece of material, and a handle member consisting of one flat piece of material, said handle member being of general inverted U-shape and slightly resilient and having hook portions at the lower ends of its legs and shoulders formed intermediate the ends of the legs, said base portion having slots through which the lower ends of the legs including the hook portions may be passed when the legs are flexed and other slots through which the hooks may be passed to lock the handle releasably to the base portion, and said retainer portion has a central slot therein to permit it to be slipped over the handle member and seated against-the shoulders of the handle member.

2. A carrier comprising a base portion consisting of one piece of material, a retainer portion consisting of one fiat piece of material, and a. handle member consisting of one flat piece of material, said handle member being of generally inverted U-shape and slightly resilient and having hooks at the lower ends of its legs and shoulders formed intermediate the ends of the legs, said hooks projecting flaterally away from the outside of the legs and said shoulders being formed at the outsides of the legs, said base portion having two pairs of longitudinally aligned slots, the two slots of each pair being arranged in tandem, the adjacent slots of the two pairs being long enough to have the lower ends of the legs of the handle portion, including the hooks thereof, passed therethrough when the legs are flexed toward one another, the outside slots of the two pairs being long enough to have the hooks passed therethrough when the legs are flexed apart, said hooks being adapted to engage releasably over the base portion to secure the handle to the base portion, and said retainer having a central longitudinal slot therein to permit it to be slipped over the handle member and seated against said shoulders.

3. A carrier comprising a base portion consisting of one piece of material, a retainer portion consisting of one flat piece of material, and a handle member consisting of onefiat piece of material, said handle member being of generally inverted U-shape and slightly resilient andhaving hooks at the lower ends of its legs and shoulders formed intermediate the ends of the legs, said hooks projecting laterally away from the outsides of the legs and said shoulders being formed at the outsides of the legs, said base portion having two pairs of. longitudinally aligned slots, the two slots of each pair being arranged in tandem, the adjacent slots of the two pairs being long enough to have the lower ends of the legs of the handle portion, including the hooks thereof, passed therethrough when the legs are flexed toward one another, the outside slots ofthe two pairs being long enough to have the hooks passed therethrough when the legs are flexed apart, said hooks being adapted to engage releasably over the base portion to secure the handle to the base portion, and said retainer having a central longitudinal slot therein to permit it to be slipped. over the handle member and seated against said shoulders, said base portion having feet formed on the underside thereof and ridges also formed on the undersidev thereof alongside the slots therein to prevent canting ofv the handle after it has been secured to the base portion.

' ALBERT F. LISTMAN.

REFERENCES crrnn The followingreferences are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number I Name Date 2,020,870 I Benoit Nov. 12, 193 5 2,333,757 Whitaker Nov. 9,1943 2,365,914 Stigler Dec. 26, 1944 2,460,530 Petyak Feb. 1, 1949 

